Rates & Fed · August 13, 2026 · 2 min read

Fed H.4.1 Data Put Reserve Balances at $2.944 Trillion on August 12

Published August 13, 2026 • Updated August 21, 2026

The Federal Reserve’s August 13 H.4.1 release reported $2.944 trillion in reserve balances at Federal Reserve Banks on August 12, down $49.3 billion from the preceding week.

CONFIRMED FACTS The Federal Reserve Board’s H.4.1 release dated August 13, 2026 reported reserve balances with Federal Reserve Banks of $2,944,059 million for Wednesday, August 12. The release reported this as $49,290 million lower than the week ended August 5 and $375,991 million lower than the corresponding August 13, 2025 figure. The same table reported total factors supplying reserve funds of $6,805,829 million on August 12 and total factors other than reserve balances absorbing reserve funds of $3,861,769 million. The difference between those published totals is $2,944,060 million; the one-million-dollar difference from the reported reserve-balance figure is consistent with the release’s note that components may not sum to totals because of rounding. The release also reported a U.S. Treasury General Account balance of $963,950 million and currency in circulation of $2,474,891 million on August 12. These are separate balance-sheet factors in the H.4.1 table. ANALYSIS The release records a week-over-week decline in aggregate reserve balances. Reserve balances are deposits held at Federal Reserve Banks, not a measure of household bank deposits, consumer credit, or the rate paid on a particular savings account. The balance-sheet identity provides accounting context for the reported total but does not, by itself, identify the cause of the weekly change. UNKNOWNS AND LIMITS H.4.1 figures are weekly Federal Reserve balance-sheet data and may include estimated items; the release flags currency in circulation as estimated. The data do not establish the cause or persistence of the reserve-balance change, the future path of monetary policy, the amount of bank lending, or financial conditions faced by any particular household or business. Components are rounded and may not sum exactly to reported totals. UPDATE LOG Published August 13, 2026 after direct review of the Federal Reserve Board’s H.4.1 release dated August 13, 2026. The live Data Brief inventory and published database source records were checked for duplicate slug, canonical source URL, and substantive overlap before publication; no published brief covered this H.4.1 release or its reserve-balance reading.

Follow the data

Relevant directory links appear to be unassigned.

Sources

Federal Reserve Board — H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances — Primary-source release dated August 13, 2026. Table 1 reports August 12 reserve balances and related balance-sheet factors in millions of dollars.

Related News

U.S. Consumer Price Index Increases 0.4% in August 2026 as Energy Costs Accelerate

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in August 2026, up from 0.1 percent in July. Over the last 12 months, the all-items index grew 3.4 percent before seasonal adjustment, remaining unchanged from the annual pace recorded in July. Gasoline prices accounted for more than one-third of the monthly gain, rising 3.9 percent. Meanwhile, core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.3 percent month-over-month and 2.4 percent on a 12-month basis.

U.S. Consumer Price Index Rises 0.4% in August as Gasoline Prices Accelerate Inflation

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased by 0.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in August 2026, accelerating from a 0.1 percent gain in July. On an unadjusted basis, the headline all-items index rose 3.4 percent over the 12 months ending August, matching the annual pace recorded in the prior month. The monthly increase was primarily driven by energy costs, as gasoline prices jumped 3.9 percent and accounted for over one-third of the headline monthly increase. Meanwhile, core CPI—which excludes food and energy components—rose 0.3 percent month-over-month and 2.4 percent year-over-year, reflecting modest upward pressure in shelter and transportation services.

U.S. Consumer Price Index Rose 0.4 Percent in August 2026 as Energy Costs Rebounded

The U.S. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased 0.4 percent month-over-month in August 2026 on a seasonally adjusted basis, driven significantly by a 3.9 percent surge in gasoline prices, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the 12 months ending August 2026, total CPI rose 3.4 percent unadjusted, matching the annual pace recorded in July. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.3 percent for the month and 2.4 percent year-over-year.